Report

>Emerald in the past escapes his parent's castle and wanders through a cave, coming across strange insect creatures.>He has to fight a few of them, and ends up getting injured.>Emerald starts to trip balls, and after walking for a while decides to lay down and sleep.>Emerald in the present comes to #304 Coursewalk and meets back up with Joyride.>Joyride makes a rude joke, and Emerald slaps her on the butt.>Emerald and Ruby make the burritos while Joyride sits and watches.>Joyride agrees to teach Emerald a spell.>They finish dinner and go to her training room.

"Okay lil' perv, so for magic missile you'll want to project a ball of magical energy out of your hooftip and focus it onto your target. You need to will it to strike them. You can't really aim it, but it should home in on your enemies by itself and strike them unerringly. Also, it will only work on living creatures, so we'll use me as a target." Joyride says, backing up a few paces.

Emerald is a little hesitant to aim an offensive spell at a friend, but Joyride sees it on his face and says, "Don't worry lil' perv, I'll be fine. Really."

Emerald nods though is still a bit nervous. The colt points a hoof at his teacher and gathers his magical energy, willing it into a ball and projecting it at Joyride. The ball starts to fly towards her, but quickly dips down and strikes the floor, puffing away into nothingness.

"Not bad for a first shot, but you didn't keep focus on me. You really don't need to worry about hurting me Emerald. I'll be fine. Question is, are you?" Joyride says, grinning down at the colt.

After casting the spell Emerald bends over, panting heavily. Just casting that one magic missile made him feel like he just ran a sprint.

"Already at your limit? I guess you were casting a lot today weren't you. We can pick this up tomorrow if you'd like."

Emerald decides to sit and rest for a second. Hearing voices, he turns to see what Ruby is up to. She has her sheathed knife out, and she is swinging it at the dummy against the nearby wall.

"Yeowch! Ack! Well done! I do believe you got my liver with that one, young mistress! Oh!" The dummy remarks as Ruby prods and slashes his straw filled body. Ruby looks incredibly amused by this.

Emerald turns again to see a chuckling Joyride looking at Ruby, and he asks her if it's better to cast a lot of small spells at once or big ones and drain magic quickly if he wants to build up reserves.

"Hmm... Well if you want to cast a lot of stuff with continuous effects or you are going for endurance casting I'd just go with a bunch of small spells. But if you want to get up to the big spells in the quickest manner possible I'd go with hitting your limit as fast as possible." Joyride says with a nod.

Emerald asks what zebra lands are like.

"It's basically the same as here, except with a lot less forest. Rolling, flat fields with an occasional tree or patch of woods here or there. It's most famous for it's jungle though, which is where we'll be going. Anyway, you ready for a round two, lil' perv?" Joyride asks extending a hoof.

Emerald gets up and says that he is ready to try again. He points a hoof at Joyride, and squinting his eyes in concentration fires off another Magic Missile

>Body Check>Rolled 5, failed

---

Emerald sits bolt up. He is in his bed in the little flat that Joyride gave him. He hears the sounds of clanking dishes and gets up groggily to his hooves and goes into the kitchen.

Ruby is there washing dishes, and seeing Emerald she says,

"Oh! You're awake. You ready to go? Joyride said we're leaving soon."

Emerald asks what happened last night.

"You tried to cast a spell, or something I guess? I wasn't really watching." Ruby says, taking a scrubber to a particular resilient stain, "All I heard was Joyride congratulating you on casting it correctly and then asking if you were alright. When I turned I saw you on the floor."

Ruby then let's out a little chuckle and continues, "Reminded me of some of my room mates after they get home from the pub on Saturday. Anyway, she carried you over to the bed."

Emerald checks himself to see how he is feeling. He feels pretty normal, though still a bit drowsy from just waking up. Emerald asks how long he was out, and what time it is now, and if anything else happened while he was out.

"Nah, after you passed out we sorta called it a night. As for the time, it's still pretty early. The sun hasn't been up for more than a few minutes now. Anyway Joyride said to get packed and meet her outside. Here, I made us some stuff from the leftovers from last night." Ruby says, handing him a plate.

She's made some sort of fritter out of the leftover vegetables. As Emerald tucks into it he asks if she is happy, and if she is ready for the zebra lands.

"Yeah! These last few days have been fun! And I guess I'm as ready as ever for adventure. Guess I don't really know how it's going to be, but it sounds better than working in a factory." She says with a grin.

Emerald asks about some of her room mates.

"Eh... They were okay... Jerks I guess, but okay to me. I didn't get to know them too well and I didn't much care. Most I'd ever get out of them is a thanks for the food or compliants about how it tasted, heh!"

Emerald gives Ruby a big ol' hug, and tells her that he's happy that she's happy.

"Yeah, okay, okay!" She says, pushing Emerald off of her with a smile, "I'm cleaning, don't you have to pack and stuff?"

Emerald nods and smiles himself, going over to his room and gathering everything he can into his pack. He reflects on his situation for a while. It wasn't too long ago that he was trapped in his step parents castle, and it's been even less time since he escaped into the wide world, afraid and with no idea what he was going to do, only knowing that going back wasn't an option.

Emerald takes it all in for a second, just sitting there on his floor hugging his backpack, and then wonders if he should perhaps write to Sensoria or Matilda to tell them where he is going.

He remembers that he sent Sensoria a letter already, and realizes that he shouldn't send one to Matilda, since it's likely she is back at Hope's father's house. Then Emerald realizes with a frown that Hope hasn't wrote to him for a while... He wonders if she is okay...

Emerald blushes slightly and nods, then asks what he's going to be doing on a boat if he's a dockworker.

"Well, he isn't JUST a dockworker." Joyride replies.

"You know, you are being really suspicious right now." Ruby says roughly.

"I am, aren't I?" Joyride says, humming to herself.

Before anything can start up, Emerald quickly asks how many times Joyride has been to the zebra lands.

"Oh quite a few. I used to live there for a while actually. I haven't been back in ages though!" Joyride says, and then licking her lips says, "I wonder if the local population is as into pony as they used to be."

The trio eventually end up at the northern part of town where the docks are. It's early, but there is still a lot of bustle here, mostly from dockworkers and sailors presumably getting ready to go out onto the ocean. Emerald takes a look at the ships. Being from a rather inland part of the continent he's never seen boats like these before. Ruby doesn't seem at all impressed though, probably because she's been by the docks quite a few times.

"Like what you see lil' perv?" Joyride says, and as Emerald nods she continues, "Well you won't after a while. Trust me, you'll be sick of boats after a few journeys. Anyway, I don't know where the ship is exactly, so we have to wait for Bo."

Emerald asks Joyride how they are paying for their trip across the water. Emerald makes it clear it better not be through selling his body.

"Fortunately for you, I'm actually doing it by selling my body! Or more specifically, I'm being hired as a... Hmm... "Mercenary"... For the trip! You never know what people or things might be lurking on the sea after all." Joyride says.

Emerald asks about how many people will be on the boat with them, and how long the trip will be.

"Hmm... The trip should take about three weeks, I think. That's what Bo told me anyway. As for the number of crew, I think it's around twelve or so including the captain. I don't know too many of them other than Bo, the captain, and the cook." Joyride answers.

Emerald is curious about the sea. He hasn't been on a boat before, but he has read about sea sickness.

"Eh... It's mostly mental. Just tell yourself you won't get seasick and you shouldn't. Hopefully. I dunno. I don't get sea sick. I have some ginseng with me if you need something for an upset stomach."

Emerald asks how a boat works exactly.

"I don't know. Why don't you ask the sailors when we get on board? I bet they'd love to tell you. Maybe. I dunno. You'll be a guest, so don't worry about having to work off your trip, okay? Just try to enjoy it. Maybe practice some magic. Maybe gamble a bit and drink." Joyride says yawning.

Emerald asks if something small like a plant or similar can be used as a target for magic missiles.

"Yeah, all it needs to be is living. So- Oh hey Bo. How's it going?"

Emerald looks around wide eyed to see the jolly zebra walk up to the trio. He looks Emerald up and down before giving him a smile. Emerald blushes and turns away.

"It's going well! The sea looks nice today. Should be good sailing! We all ready to go?" Bo asks.

...But Emerald stutters and blushes even harder. He starts to walk away and seeing Ruby, goes up and gives her a boop on the nose, which causes her to give a confused look to Emerald.

"Oh, who is this?" Bo says, looking at Ruby.

"Another guest. I assume there won't be a problem with that?" Joyride says lazily.

"Not for me no, but you'll have to ask my fa- The captain just to make sure." Bo says, catching himself.

Joyride says they are good to go, and Bo leads them a short way up the docks and onto a boat named "Gypsy Wind". Emerald remembers reading a book about ships, and he thinks it's called a "brigantine". The party steps up the plank and onto the deck of the ship.

There are quite a few sailors here, certainly more than a dozen like Joyride said. They are all hard at work on their tasks. Some are cleaning the ship, others are checking ropes or masts, and a few seem to be counting supplies.

"Hey, stay up here on deck. I gotta go talk to the captain." Joyride says.

"We should be sailing in about half an hour." Bo says to Emerald, who blushes again and looks away. Joyride and Bo walk away to a nearby door.

Ruby hasn't listened to any of this, and has already walked to the side of the ship and seems to be looking out at the ocean.

Emerald asks if she is sure she wants to go with them. They haven't left port yet, so it's still possible for her to disembark.

"No! No, I do want to come... I think... I..." Ruby says, looking out to sea again.

Emerald says Ruby's name, and then slowly approaches her and gives her a hug.

He says that for most of his life, he never saw beyond the castle walls where he was imprisoned. He tells Ruby that when he escaped, he was very afraid, but he met a lot of friends he never would have otherwise.

He also mentions that it's a bit different from her situation, since Ruby is probably happier in Whither than he was in the castle, but if she gets homesick, odds are they'll be coming back some day. Joy has real estate here, right?

"Yeah..." Ruby says with a nod, and then straightening up she says, "Yeah, you know what, you are right!"

Ruby then sticks her head through the ropes on the side and looks over the side of the boat. Emerald does the same, but the ropes knock his hat off and he quickly leans over and catches it.

Ruby laughs, and then says, "Man, we aren't even that far out and I can't see to the bottom. It's nothing like the river."

Emerald nods, and then looks out into the distance. He read about how big the sea is, but he never really realized it until he actually saw it himself.

Emerald reflects on how far away from his step parents he'll be in the zebra lands. He doubts anyone will look for him there, or even know who he or his parents are. That'll be a load off his back.

Emerald then glances over to Ruby, happy to make a friend, and happy to make a friend who seemingly needed one.

Emerald then glances down into the ocean. If it's really that deep than he needs to take care not to fall overboard. He is pretty sure he can't swim, so it's a one way ticket to the hereafter if he does fall.

Emerald then lapses into a fantasy of being a swashbuckling sailor with a saber in his teeth and a beautiful maiden (who looks a lot like Hope) in his hooves. He is fighting off a particularly large octopus when Ruby says something.

"Man, I wish I had like, a telescope or something." Ruby remarks, squinting into the distance.

Emerald points out they probably have a spyglass somewhere around here.

"Hmm..." Ruby says, and then walks over to the nearby cabin window.

Emerald follows, and inside he sees Bo, Joyride, and a large zebra with a big, trifold hat. That must be the captain. The three are talking merrily, and if he had to guess Emerald thinks that they are catching up on old times.

"How about we look around the ship a bit?" Ruby says, motioning to Emerald and pointing at the door.

Emerald says that they were told to stay on deck.

"Yeah, but it ain't like we are going to be on deck the whole three weeks. It's not like we aren't going to have to see the inside of the ship at some point. Why not now?"

All the sailors are busy with there work, counting inventory, cleaning, or otherwise getting ready to set sail. None of them seem to notice the two children running around deck, and if the other soldier Emerald talked to is to be believed, none of them much care for them or what they do.

Emerald gives a swallow and then nods to Ruby, and the two open the door. It leads to a staircase downwards as well as two doors. One is obviously the captain's cabin, and the other isn't open. A sailor comes out of the door carrying a barrel, and the two foals freeze, but the worker takes no notice of them and continues out the door. Ruby and Emerald take a quick glance inside the room and see it's being used for storage of some kind.

The two head down the stairs and see another closed door, as well as a door propped open that seems to lead to cannons.

>Intelligence Check>Rolled 4, passed.

The door on the other side of the cannon room is closed, but Emerald recalls seeing a staircase at the other end of the ship, which is where it likely leads. In addition, it's very unlikely this is the last floor. Emerald feels like they haven't gone down far enough to reach the bottom of the ship, and they still haven't seen a kitchen or large enough sleeping quarters to house everyone.

Emerald tries the door next to them that's closed. It doesn't seem to open, but it does have a keyhole. When Emerald looks through he sees more supplies. More storage, he guesses.

Emerald and Ruby than wander into the cannon room. The whole ship so far has looked old and well used, but also well kept for. The wooden walls are clear of grime, and the floor is scrubbed clean. It doesn't even smell as bad as a ship holding twelve men for weeks on end should.

Emerald sees Ruby pretending to fire the cannons, and looking out the gun port. He examines the cannons seem to be made of brass and iron, and kept in place by strips of some sort of stretchy cloth. In the middle are more supplies, likely for the cannons. In the middle is a grated hole that leads downward, likely to more storage.

"Hey, think we'll see them use the cannons?" Ruby asks, miming firing the guns again.

(Last for the night. Not sure when I'll start tomorrow. I'm actually leaving my house for once and I'm not sure when I'll be back.)

>Int Check>Rolled 5, passed

Emerald tries to impress Ruby by telling her how the cannon works. He mentions that it's swabbed at first to make sure no errant sparks or dirt are in the way, and then it's packed with gunpowder, the cannonball, and then a little more powder just to make sure it's kept in place. It's then magicked forward by a unicorn or kicked into place. After that it's aimed and the flintlock mechanism is pulled, causing the powder to ignite and shoot the cannonball.

Ruby seems enraptured by this story, and repeats, "...Think we'll see them fire the cannons?"

Emerald and Ruby then make their way over to the other door and open it. Here it is much more busy, with plenty of sailors moving up and down the stairs. Other than the stairs, there is another door. The pair enter it and see many beds as well as a small stool and desk, as well as a second door off to the side. Though the beds are little more than plain white sheets and straw pillows, each one has the effects and items of it's owner, whether that be a picture, a bag, a smoking pipe, or perhaps a weapon or corked bottle of booze.

Emerald and Ruby check the other door, and it appears to open to a storage room for luggage and personal effects.

Emerald and Ruby leave this room and head down the stairs, being careful not to get in any sailors way as they work. Immediately upon coming down the stairs Emerald can see into a large storage hold that is being loaded with boxes. The other exits here lead to another bedroom as well as a barred room containing a dusty blanket. Perhaps a brig?

On the opposite side of the storage Emerald can see what appears to be a stove. What an odd placement for a kitchen, but I guess that means the chef is close to his food supplies.

Emerald says that they should probably get back up to the top deck now, but Ruby forestalls him by walking to a crate and saying,

"Hey, what do you think is in all these boxes?"

Emerald glances around, and seeing all the sailors around says that they probably shouldn't mess with any of the goods. Ruby however, lifts the opening to one of the crates and inside are tightly wrapped white bricks of some kind.

"Hey! What are you two doing?" A sailor asks from their side, slamming the box closed.

Emerald stammers out an apology to the angry seafarer and Ruby starts to drag him away. The pair are a little shaken after that and decide to head back up to the top deck.

Once there, Emerald spots Joyride, Bo, and what he assumes to be the captain standing at the bow of the ship. They are pointing to something in Whitherwater, and as Ruby and Emerald get close Joyride turns around and sees them.

"Oh, there you two are. This is Kpangbah, the captain of the ship."

"Kuh... Ke..." Ruby says, trying to repeat the name herself. Emerald has read quite a bit of Zebra literature and even he is having trouble with it.

"Captain is fine, if you are having trouble child." Kpangbah says with a soft grin.

The two greet the captain properly, and he gives a nod. Bo is about to say something, but a crew member approaches and he walks over to them, and the two start talking.

Emerald turns his attention to Kpangbah. The captain is a zebra, and even taller and strongly built than Bo. He is wearing a black tricorn hat with a white feather, and also a rather expensive looking red coat with golden trim. His stance and demeanor are enough to tell Emerald that he is a powerful leader.

Bo returns and says, "Everything is loaded and everyone is aboard, sir."

"Then let's get on with it." The captain says, with another nod.

Bo steps away from the group slightly, and bringing his hoof to his mouth gives a load whistle and yells, "Get ready to cast off!"

The crew members in turn all repeat the order, so much so that Emerald thinks he can hear the people below deck yell it as well. A bell is rung, and the sailors start to pull the ropes off the mooring.

(Last for a while. I got errands. Also, to the person who asked, there will be some time skipping.)

The captain and Bo wander off to there duties, but Emerald, Ruby, and Joyride sit there and watch Whitherwater recede into the distance. Emerald sees Ruby give the town a last little wave, and he does the same.

Really, it's the first place that's felt like home for him, and the only place since he escaped from his parent's that felt safe, even if he was still being hunted constantly.

Emerald asks if anyone knows any sea shanties.

"I know some, but I don't sing." Joyride says flatly.

"I like to sing, but I don't know any." Ruby says, trailing off.

Emerald asks how she got the captain to take Ruby in, and if there were any costs associated with it.

"Yeah, but nothing too horrible. I'm already giving them my services for much cheaper than I normally would. Plus he's a friend. You two just gotta help out every once and a while if they ask, alright? They might not even ask, I dunno." Joyride says with a shrug.

"I guess I could help out in the kitchens." Ruby says calmly, though the look in her eyes is rather expectant.

"There ya go." Joyride says, giving her a wink.

Emerald asks if she has any plans for the voyage.

"Hey, I'm the only grown woman on a boat full of men, I brought booze, and plenty of party favors. For me this is a pleasure cruise, lil' perv!" Joyride says with a grin.

Emerald says that he thought she was going to protect the crew or something like that.

"Yeah, but it should be fine." Joyride says dismissively.

Emerald wants to argue the point more, but he isn't sure what to say. He instead takes out his bag of components and spellbook. He then looks for a small rock in the area, and finding one nestled snuggly in a corner of the bow he starts to levitate it.

Ruby watches him, but Joyride just stares out into the water. Whether bored or pensive Emerald doesn't know.

Emerald practices moving the rock. He gets it to slowly spin around, and after a few more minutes it moves back and forth, and then up and down. He sees how high he can make it go, but then loses control after it gets about ten feet for cover and he scrambles away from the rock, not wanting to hurt himself.

He goes to pick up the fallen rock, and seeing Ruby still watching him sees if he can see what she is thinking.

>Perception Check>Rolled 3, passed

She seems to be generally interested in him trying to do magic. Emerald asks if maybe she wants to learn a little bit.

"Well, gotta teach me how to read first, don't ya?" Ruby says with a grin, "I'm in no rush really. Magic looks cool and all but it looks like a lot of effort to be honest."

Emerald shrugs, and then sees Joyride is still looking out at the water. He asks her what she is thinking.

After a second she says, "Thinkin' about that dang antler from a white deer that I need for my potion. Hmm..."

Emerald asks if he can help in any way.

"Possibly. You don't need to worry about it yet though. Just work on your magic. Should I remind you we are going to a place with giant killer wasps and are going to steal their honey? Might be a good idea to get good at casting magic missiles."

Emerald smiles sheepishly, and then asks what the purpose of the sailor's trip is.

"To deliver trade goods... And to procure more if the opportunity presents itself." Is all Joyride says.

"I'm a pretty good client, and a family friend of Kpangbah. I knew his father pretty well. If you know what I mean." Joyride says, elbowing Emerald, who rolls his eyes, "We met in Ziger. That's kind of in the middle of the Zebra lands, and one of the bigger provinces there. Economically that is."

Emerald nods, though now that he thinks on it, he isn't exactly clear on zebra geography. He'll have to remember to look it up sometime.

Glancing around, Emerald asks about the white bricks in the storage.

"Why you little snoop!" Joyride says with a wide grin, "I can tell by the way you are asking me that you know what those are. If any authorities pop by make sure not to say anything about them. Not that they'll ask you probably. That goes for you too Ruby!"

Ruby turns suddenly towards them. She was apparently only pretending to look off the side of the ship, and nods in agreement to the silence.

Emerald asks if there is anyway he can practice doing magic missiles without blowing holes in the ship.

"Yeah. Like I said it only affects animate objects. If it hits anything else the spell just fizzles away." Joyride says, "Just find some pest on the ship to snipe, or something."

Emerald then walks over to Ruby and asks if she wants to learn to read any today.

Emerald says that they can, and that the just need to find a quiet place to study (and perhaps a small creature to practice spells on!). Emerald and Ruby begin to wander the ship, looking for a secluded corner where they won't be bothered. However seemingly everywhere they go there is a sailor barking orders, loud friendly banter, or an argument.

Eventually they end up back on deck near the bow where they started and just start studying there. They stay there for a few hours, Emerald finally getting through the alphabet and starting to work on larger words. During this Emerald starts to hear snoring, and sees that Ruby has fallen asleep face first into one of the books he brought with him.

Guess the lesson is over for now.

He grins, and then begins to look up at the clouds. It really is quite peaceful at the moment.

Emerald puts his book down and decides to take a little rest himself. He gazes up at the clouds, wondering what it would be like to be able to walk on them like a pegasi. He then tries to make various things out the clouds, and spots an apple, as well as a bunny.

Emerald then gets up and starts to wander around the ship, looking for mice to zap with magic missiles. He's a bit nervous at first after being yelled at by the sailors, but none of them seem to be giving him the eye. He's walking around the boxes in the cargo hold when he hears Ruby's voice behind him.

"There ya are. What are you doing?"

Emerald explains that he is looking for a mouse or something to practice magic missiles on.

"Oh, let me help!" Ruby says, staring all around the room.

She searches for a few moments and then says,

"So what happened after you got out of your parent's castle? I mean, did they re-catch you or anything? Did you see Papillon again?"

Emerald says that he hasn't seen his step parents or Papillon since that day, and that he wasn't recaptured. Ruby is obviously fishing for the continuation of how he escaped.

While looking for small furry creatures, Emerald begins to speak about what happened in his past.

---

Emerald wakes up suddenly, sitting bolt right up and in a sweat. He seems to have been put into a sleeping bag inside a tent. He can see a second rolled up sleeping bag next to him, as well as some luggage.

His mouth is incredibly dry and he has a bit of a headache. As he gets up he realizes his front legs are shackled together. It makes it very difficult to walk, but he can manage. Emerald also notices that the wound from the creatures in the cave is wrapped.

Emerald looks at his cuffs. He tries to figure out if he can get them off.

>Int check>Rolled 1, passed

Emerald has no idea how to remove these cuffs, or any hoofcuffs for that matter. He knows he's read lot's of stories about picking them with hairpins and the like, but he wonders if those are true to life or simply fantasy.

Emerald carefully walks over to the bags and begins going through them. They seem to be full of traveling supplies, such as food and lanterns and such. There are a few that are full of books however. Emerald opens one of them up and notices it's written in a very old form of pony that he can't quite read very well, other than that he can tell they are books about the black arts, and demons.

Emerald rustles through the bag some more and finds a small paring knife. Well, it's better than nothing.

Emerald then carefully peaks outside of the tent. He seems to be in a small clearing in the forest he just left. It's day, and there seems to be a mare sitting before a crackling fire cooking something. Her dress reminds him a lot of the squires Emerald has seen roaming around his step parent's castles. Though these appear to be much more useful, as she appears to be wearing chainmail and carrying a sword.

Emerald looks at the mare and tries to determine whether she might be from his step parents castle or not.

He is pretty sure she isn't from there, however. Her colors are all wrong. Her surcoat is a scarlet red, and doesn't have the Jewel family crest on it. In fact, it doesn't seem to have any crest at all.

Still, the manacles make Emerald suspicious. He thinks he needs to escape.

Emerald takes the paring knife to the back of the tent, ripping and slicing at the fabric the best he can with the shackles on. He manages to cut a reasonably sized hole out and begins to waddle through it when he hears a voice beside him.

"Umm... The entrance to the tent is on the other side, if you want to get out..." The mare says, looking at Emerald questioningly.

Emerald says that he would have used the exit if he thought that was a good idea, but from his point of view something isn't right here.

He then holds up the hoofcuffs and asks why he is wearing them and if she can take them off.

"Err..." The mare says not looking Emerald in the eye, "Well no, I can't take them off..."

Emerald glares at her, his eyes tearing up involuntarily.

"B-but my master can do it when he comes back! He just went to explore a little about around where we found you. He said that he has questions for you." The mare says in a pitying way, obviously trying to comfort Emerald, "He's a nice guy, really! I'm sure you didn't do anything wrong or anything!"

Emerald keeps glaring, and the mare taps her hooves together nervously. Emerald remembers the bandages and thanks her for fixing him up.

"Of course! No problem!" The mare says happily, "Look, I think we got off on the wrong hoof. My name is Alacris."

Emerald, still wary, says it's nice to meet her and introduces himself. Almost immediately after doing so he realizes he probably should have used a fake name. In the future he'll have to remember to come up with one.

Luckily Alacris doesn't seem to recognize his name and says,

"Hey, I'm cooking up some breakfast. Want some?"

Emearld hobbles over to the fire. It smells like some sort of carrot stew.

Emerald watches as Alacris pours out some stew for the two of them, and only starts eating after he sees her down a few mouthfuls.

The soup is really quite good. It's smooth and slightly sweet and tangy. It also has large chunks of carrot in it. Emerald doesn't even liked cooked carrots that much, but this he enjoys.

Emerald asks about her master.

"Ah!" She says, putting down the soup excitedly "He's-!"

She then stops and looks at Emerald like she was trying to X-ray him, and then says,

"I'm not sure how much I'm allowed to say. Err... His name is Venator, and he is one of the greatest... Err... He's... Great!"

Emerald, still a little suspicious asks what the deal with all the books about demons and dark magic were about.

"H-hey! You shouldn't go reading Master's books!" she then closes her eyes and motions her front hooves like she was pushing something aside, "That's not the real problem here. Sorry. I know it looks suspicious, but once you meet Master Venator you'll see why he has them."

Emerald continues glaring, and Alacris notices.

"So um... Where you from? Why were you out here in the middle of no where? You from the castle?" She asks kindly.

Emerald dodges her questions, and instead asks how close they are to the castle.

"Oh! The castle and it's city is basically on top of this hill! Err... Well you can't see the hill because of the trees, but it's up there I swear! I'd say it's... Two, maybe three miles away? When Venator returns he can tell you for sure. I mean, after you answer his questions and all."

Emerald asks when she thinks he'll be returning.

"Soon I hope. He said we'd get to stay at an Inn while he-" Alacris shuts her mouth suddenly and looks nervously at Emerald, "-does... His thing."

Emerald presses the matter, telling her that he just wants to know that he'll be safe, and that he knows that her master is studying dark magic.

"I, well you see... It's..." The mare says, but suddenly jumps when a harsh, hoarse voice behind her let's out a cry.

"Pathetic, Alacris. You are letting a child corner you."

"M-master Venator! I just wanted to keep your work a secret and-"

"Then you tell him forcefully that there will be no more questions on the matter. You were too soft."

Alacris looks down at her hooves ashamed, but Emerald barely notices this. The stallion before him grabs his attention.

The stallion is old, but built tough. Venator is made all the tougher looking with his icy, fixed glare at Emerald and his shaggy looking dark brown mane. The stallion is wearing a black mantle, and the only things he can see under it are his well worn travel boots, a large sword, and what appears to be some sort of bandolier across his chest. Other than that he is wearing an officer's cap with an arrow insignia on it that Emerald doesn't recognize, and hefting a bag on his back.

"You have many questions to answer child. Where are you from, why do you smell of dark magic, and why..."

The stallion then takes the sack off his back and opening it, tosses the contents of the ground before him. In it are the remains of those things that were following around in the cave.